Geological Origins of the
Land - Glaciation -
First Inhabitants - Narragansetts - European Colonization

In the
Beginning, Before Humans Arrived, there
was the Land and the Water

Origin of the Land

A very
long time in the past, more than 565 million years
ago, the land beneath Jamestown,
like all of Rhode Island, formed as part of a
volcanic arc, off of what is now the west coast of Africa.

Parts of this Avalonian
Volcanic Arc drifted slowly under the influence of tectonic
forces and, about 450 million years ago, collided with the
mainland of what is now North America. That
collision resulted in creation of most of what is now known as
both New England and the Northern Appalachians.
Avalonia and the seabed that
was
pushed ahead of it onto the North American continent comprise the bedrock under
almost all of the land that makes up the New England states.

Glaciation

The most
visible geological characteristics of Jamestown
and the Narragansett Bay region are the results of much more recent events
- two great glaciations that reached Rhode Island within the
past 75,000 years.

The last and most severe glacial
advance reached its peak about
18,000 years ago.

At that time, glaciers
extended south of New York City and tens
of miles beyond the present coast of
Rhode Island - to the very edge of the
continental shelf.

As these glaciers
pushed southward, their slowly flowing ice
stripped away soil, crushed layers of rocks,
ground the surface and carved channels into the
earth. Two of the glacial
cuts have become the East and West Passages;
which now separate Conanicut Island
from the western mainland and from Aquidneck
Island (Newport).

A sustained warming trend
began about 18,000 years ago, causing the glaciers
to retreat fairly rapidly. Approximately 15,000
years ago Rhode Island became free of glaciers.
As the ice masses melted, the retreating glaciers left
moraines (deposits of rocks and other material
that had been carried southward as the glacier
advanced) and other, more-randomly located
deposits of soil and rocks from northern New
England. Where large isolated blocks of ice
remained for some time after most of the ice had
melted, depressions were formed, creating small
lakes.

Because Rhode
Island glaciers melted before those
located further north, a significant
amount of the worlds water was
still frozen when the area became
ice-free. Sea level was about 150
feet lower than today.

For some time, the
Long Island and Block Island Sounds were
fresh water lakes, bounded by the glacial
moraines, and the Jamestown/ Newport area was many miles from the ocean.
For several thousand years, the glacial
cuts that we know as the East and West
Passages were inland valleys with streams
and rivers.

Arrival
of Native Americans

The first humans probably
arrived in the area about 10,000 to 12,000 years
ago. They undoubtedly spent most of their time in
the valleys near ancient streams and rivers.

As melting of more
northern ice sheets continued, the sea
level rose; covering low-lying areas and
eventually entering and filling what we
know as Narragansett Bay. The rising sea
changed the landscape and forced
both people and animals to move to higher
elevations, in the process, submerging most traces
of the earliest inhabitants. The oldest human
artifacts found on Conanicut
Island date from around
3000 BC.

By
1300 BC Jamestown was home (at least a seasonal
basis) to many Native Americans.
The largest Indian cemetery in New England is
located on the island; and artifacts spanning a
three-thousand year period have been recovered
from a site near the elementary school.

Arrival
of Europeans

In 1524, the Italian
navigator Giovani Verrazzano and his crew became
the first Europeans conclusively known to visit
Narragansett Bay. He did not stay in the area for
long, as he was on a journey of exploration, not
settlement.

In 1636 or 1637,
Dutch fur traders paid to use the island of
Quentenis as a base for their activities. This
island, located just west of Conanicut, is now
known as Dutch Island and is part of Jamestown.

In 1638 the English made
arrangements to use Conanicut Island
for grazing sheep. One of the Narragansett
sachems who gave consent was Canonicus. (As a
result of these events, the name
"Conanicut" was given to the island and
the figure of a sheep is in a central position in
the Jamestown seal.)

In 1657 a consortium of about one
hundred buyers purchased Conanicut,
Dutch and Gould Islands. They divided Conanicut
Island into roughly one dozen large
plots and reserved Dutch Island and parts of Conanicut
Island for common use. Benedict Arnold,
one of the purchasers, became governor of the
colony of Rhode Island the same year. He returned
to the office - in 1662, 1663, 1669 and 1677.

The Native Americans and newly arrived
colonists lived
side-by-side in relative peace for almost four
decades. Unfortunately, conflicts eventually occured in a number of places in southern New
England, leading to what is known as King
Philip's War. Although Conanicut Island
remained a haven for many Native Americans, after
1676, life in the region was dominated by the
colonists.

Ferries
were operating between Conanicut
Island and Newport
by 1675.

In 1678, Conanicut Island
was incorporated as the town of Jamestown;
honoring Prince James, later King James
II. There were about 150 residents.